Pryor Cashman Partner Josh Weigensberg, a member of the Litigation and Media + Entertainment Groups, was quoted in a Variety article about the use of OpenAI's image-generation tools to create pictures in the "style" of iconic intellectual property, including the animation of Studio Ghibli.
The article, "The Ghibli-Style AI Wake-Up Call," explores how viral AI-generated images raise legal questions under U.S. copyright law, particularly when AI products generate works that closely resemble the creative expression of well-known artists and studios.
Josh offered insight into the issues that surface when generative AI tools produce content in the style of copyrighted works:
"It's not always clear what is meant by 'style' when someone requests it from the model," said Weigensberg. "Generative AI is not just being influenced in the abstract by a studio's style or an artist's style; it's training on their works. The output may well contain copies of expressive elements of the original works. The question is, are the resulting images substantially similar to or the same as the expressive elements to what the plaintiff creator owns."
Josh was also quoted on the implications for fair use and the potential market harm created by AI-generated "knockoffs":
"What are you setting up your AI product to do? Are you training on visual art and then enabling your AI product to generate similar art?" he asked. "Copying expressive works without permission and then allowing your users to generate knockoffs is substitutional" and may be "damaging to artists or IP owners."
"This creates a serious risk, and I'm sure reality, that the demand for your services and your art is going to be diminished because people can just get knockoffs for free through generative AI."
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